Cause & Effect, Luntz-style

The confluence of Keith Olberman calling out The Luntz himself on consecutive nights corresponding to the start of this blog is something that Versus and D.A. cannot ignore. Perhaps Versus has been whispering to Mr. Olberman?

[New readers are invited to read the Welcome post for clarification of Versus and D.A.]

But even prior to these MSM references to The Luntz, GOP message "guru" (as K.O. called him), Versus had been considering the bizarre logic that The Luntz and his GOP minions, particularly with respect to cause and effect. The Luntz did not originate this faulty logic pattern and it is hardly unique to his brand of spin. Many persons in a variety of endeavors project all sorts of cause/effect guesses, nearly all of the flawed. Rubbing a rabbit's foot does not bring one luck.

Wiser humans than D.A. have written that the human mind constantly seeks to understand the world and produces all sorts of cause and effect judgments, many of them wrong. Humans can't help it. One thing happens after another and we humans (D.A. speaking here) automatically connect the two as cause and effect.

The Luntz is a master at manipulating this human weakness, as are so many GOP mouthpieces. Most Dem mouthpieces, Independent mouthpieces, and regular folks do the same as well.

Today's example is the GOP reaction to the idiotic, incompetent Xmas-day plane bomber and how the Obama administration handled his legal status and interrogation. The GOP leapt all over this story from the start, and immediately concluded that treating him as a criminal rather than an enemy combatant would lead to more terrorist attacks.

Versus, by virtue of his being an Avenging Angel, has a perfect understanding of cause and effect and scratched his haloed head about this conclusion. Can mere humans see the future with greater perfection than an Angel? Does Versus need to see the Angel doctor?

Your humble servants don't think The Luntz is behind this particular spin. His forte is domestic policy bogusity.

X causes Y is true casuality. Many times, it's X causes Y causes Z causes ... well, you get the picture. Versus guesses the GOP theory on terrorism is that if you treat a captured terrorist harshly, he'll spill the beans immediately and you'll stop other terrorist attacks. They have no proof of that causality in general or in particular, any more than there's proof of the magic rabbit's foot. But people will believe such hooey because they want to believe it.

Similarly, the GOP attacks the Obama Administration -- ignoring the obvious similarities to their methods and the Bush Administration's in this regard -- because they refuse to believe that upholding existing law, treating terrorists as criminals, and using positive incentives for cooperation produces better actionable intelligence. There is, however, evidence of that X causes Y causes Z.

Further, there's evidence that what the GOP calls for actually inspires would-be terrorists, not that they need much inspiring. Versus is quite sure that those predisposed to terror crimes would find another excuse. That's the nature of human motivation and rationalization. Boy, free-will in entities without a clear understanding of cause and effect is a bummer, says Versus.

So we are left with the GOP bathering on about how we should listen to them and rub that rabbit's foot, even if they can't prove the causal link, because they want to believe it. And they want the rest of us to believe it. Arguing with them is pointless, just as arguing with someone about the rabbit's foot's impact on their fortune is pointless.

Hence, without further ado, here are Versus' "Words That Out-Luntz The Luntz" on this topic:

The Republicans favor terrorist attacks while Obama is president and want the terrorist to succeed just so they can say 'We told you so!' They would rather that Americans die so that they can claim proof that Obama is weak and the GOP is tough and tough works.

How sad, Versus laments.